How to Measure Level of Consciousness

 

The brain is the central nervous system. The brain is an organ that has an important function of the entire process of life. Although it weighs only 2.5 percent of body weight, but the brain is responsible for setting the whole body and the human mind.

In addition to the most important, the brain is also the most complex organ. Based on the results of brain research have the parts with their respective functions. Basically the human brain consists of five parts, namely the Great Brain, midbrain, hindbrain, cerebellum and marrow advanced.

Each piece has a specific task that affects how the body works. Cerebral cortex is organized into two hemispheres, each of which is divided into four lobes are the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. 

Cerebrum is responsible for motor functions, associative, and mental function. Part of the brain called the basal ganglia consist of the caudate nucleus and lentikularis, internal capsule, and the amygdala, which is the extrapyramidal structures. 

This structure serves to modulating the body's voluntary movements, posture changes, and autonomic integration. The basal ganglia plays a special role in extremity movements are smooth. Damage to the basal ganglia will cause stiffness and tremors. Thalamus is the relay station for sensory and motor impulses that run to and from the brain. 

Thalamus plays a role in the control of primitive responses such as fear, self-protection, the central perception of pain, and temperature. The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus consists of the optic chiasm and neurohypophysis. Neurohypophysis responsible for the regulation of temperature, fluids, nutrients, and sexual behavior.

Awareness is the main function of the central nervous system. The interaction between the cerebral hemispheres and reticular formatio constant and effective is needed to maintain the function of consciousness. The level of awareness divided into two levels of consciousness quantitatively and qualitatively:

1. Qualitative Awareness Levels

Compos mentis

That is fully conscious, both to themselves and to their environment. the client can answer  questions the examiner properly.

Apathetic
Circumstances where the client seemed perfubctory, reticent and indifferent to the environment.

Delirium
That is accompanied by loss of consciousness and motor chaos sleep wake cycle is disrupted. Clients seem rowdy restless, chaotic, disorientation and thrashing.

Somnolence (Letargia, Obtundasi, Hypersomnia)
Namely drowsiness that can still be recovered when stimulated, but when stimulus stops, the client will fall asleep again.

Sopor (Stupor)
Deep drowsiness, Clients can still be woken up by strong stimuli, such as pain stimuli, but the client did not wake up perfect and can not give a good verbal answer.

Coma
That is a very deep loss of consciousness, no spontaneous movement and no response to pain stimulus.

2. Qualitative Awareness Levels (Glasgow Coma Scale)

Assessment awareness capabilities can be seen from the examination of the ability of orientation, judgment, abstraction, vocabulary, and memory. GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) is a way to assess the level of consciousness based on the response of the eye, speech, motor.

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The Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS is a neurological scale that aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment.

That's an explanation of how to measure the Level of Consciousness.